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Design-work is a collection of techniques whereby we improve the
quality of our designs. Those techniques include affirmation, directed
imagination, and modeling.
The theory underlying design-work.
 | Designs are aspects of the energy, the substance of which we are composed.
We can say that designs are aspects of life. |
| Each design is surrounded by a design field, that is akin to the magnetic
field that surrounds a magnet. |
| As we interact with a design, we generate various elements, thoughts,
images, physical actions, and energy tones such as emotions and feelings. |
| These elements leave an impression in the design. This impression serves as
a record of the encounter with that design. |
| When we encounter that design again, those previous impressions influence
our current response to the design. |
| The goal of design-work is to intentionally implant elements that will
exert a productive influence during subsequent encounters with the various
designs. Design-work does not magically create circumstances in our life
instead it sets up the conditions in which those preferred circumstances are
most likely to occur. Like a magnet, the design attracts a particular
condition, in the same manner in which a literal magnet would attract and
arrange the iron filings on a piece of paper. |
We benefit when we improve the quality of our designs.
| Our actions are more effective.
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We gain an increase of love
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We can give more love.
Love is our natural condition, based on the
nature of spirit itself. We experience this love as a desire to reach out to
the world around us. This can be facilitated by particular thoughts, and
images such as a visual memory of a past pleasant situation, energies such as
affection and gratitude, and actions. |
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We will receive more love. As we become more loving, we will attract more
love in return and discourage non loving situations. |
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We gain an increase of self love |
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We gain freedom. With Intuition based design-work we are free to select
the design elements that will enhance the opportunity for our exploration and
education and opportunity to serve. It is only from the ego=s
perspective that there is ever a lack of freedom to make this choice.
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We gain interesting challenges. Life becomes more fascinating when we
view its design elements from a third party perspective. Now, no action is
mundane or routine, instead, every moment is an opportunity to examine and
improve our design elements. Even during dull times, we know that all designs
are present because spirit is everywhere, and it contains all designs. We can
treat it as a game and select the ones that we want to enhance, and then enjoy
the benefits as we become more effective, and loving, and better prepared to
create a more beautiful life in the future.
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We gain therapeutic benefits. Design-work is a useful approach with
people who have particular types of psychological problems. There are already
some accepted psychological procedures for dealing with particular aspects of
designs. Cognitive psychology explores our thinking processes and so, we can use
some of that information in our examination of the thought aspect of design
elements. Psychologists are studying imagery that corresponds to the image
aspect of design elements. If we look to popular psychology, metaphysics, and
other fields of research, we find people who have achieved therapeutic benefits
with affirmations, directed imagination and modeling.
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| We gain an understanding of the nature and dynamics of spirit.
| We gain a refinement of our human character as we make changes in our design
elements. The true nature of spirit is unconditional love that expresses itself
in our actions, thoughts, images, and energy tones. These are associated with
qualities such as patience, responsibility, honesty, forgiveness, generosity,
and balance. We develop those qualities because from the basis of our true self
our intuition naturally guides us to think, emote, image, and act that way. |
| We use our intuition to acquire elements for our designs, and to test their
appropriateness. As we develop our awareness of our true self we are able to
more effectively use intuition to develop our design elements. We are then not a
human being, having a spiritual experience, we are spirit, having a human
experience. This process provides the ego with appropriate designs to follow in
any situation. |
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The goals in design-work.
Through design-work, we can create the conditions that increase
our probably of achieving any goal including goals that pertain to material
goods, psychological health, or emotional well-being.
We acquire appropriate design elements via external methods. We become aware of the means
by which we accept thoughts, images, energy tones, and behaviors from agents
outside of ourselves such as parents, friends, or media. We take in these
elements constantly, consciously or unconsciously, through various actions:
| A conscious endeavor to have better design elements.
We continually
observe people around us, to note how they manage design situations. We think,
"How does she remain calm when she is under so much pressure?" or
"I admire him for being able to manage this problem without becoming
angry.". By watching and asking those people we discern the thoughts,
images, energy tones, and actions that permit them to be effective and loving
in those design situations. |
| Observation of people in fabricated situations. We gain design elements
through television programs and movies and novels and biographies, as they
portray design situations in relationships, in families, in workplaces, and in
other areas of life. This is one reason for the popularity of such media. We
want to see how other people confront the same design situations that we
confront. We study the characters' actions, words, thought processes, and energy
tones, then we adopt some of those elements into our own designs. |
| Observation of the nonhuman world. In addition to observing people, we
can also study the design qualities of objects such as a mountain with its
quality of firmness, or machine with its quality of efficiency. We can also
observe the qualities of animals such as a dog with its quality of unconditional
love. |
| Requests for advice. When we ask for advice from a friend, parent,
therapist, or other respected individual, our primary goal is to acquire
elements for our designs. In many cases, change occurs simply because we gain
the thoughts, images, energy tones, and behaviors that allow us to manage
dilemmas in our life. We gain a new way of looking at things, or a different
feeling about a person and we become more productive and more loving in those
circumstances. |
| Discussions and debates. Whenever we discuss a topic, we are comparing
our thoughts with other people's thoughts. Every topic deals with a design
situation, and we are actually comparing the contents of our design elements,
not just the thoughts, but also the images, energy tones, and actions. We can
view the situation as a an opportunity to enhance our design elements and to
help the other person develop theirs. |
| An intellectual exploration of life. |
| Unconscious indoctrination. At every moment, we are immersed in a sea of data while all of our senses are
acquiring information subliminally. We unconsciously make note of the values
that are expressed in billboards which are in our peripheral vision, and we
assimilate the emotional tone from our radio's background music. Our mind is
absorbing that information, and putting it into our designs to create its models
of what this world is about and what we are about particularly if we are
uncertain of our own values.
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Unwilling indoctrination. Even if we resist, we can take in ideas, images, energy tones, and behaviors
from other sources, particularly if they are repeated often.
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We can acquire design elements via internal methods.
| Acquiring elements from intuition. We are constantly confronting designs,
and receiving guidance from intuition regarding the appropriate thoughts,
images, energy tones and actions that allow us to comply with the requirements
of those design situations. The goal is to remember those elements, and then
repeat them and reinforce them through design-work. This prepares us for future
encounters with that design. These elements are only generalizations of the
proper response to this design situation. The next encounter will have different
dynamics that will require different thoughts, images, energy tones, and
actions. In the mean time we perform the design-work to implant improved
elements in our design for the ego to work with. |
| Acquiring elements from internal processes other than intuition. |
| The ego. |
| Logic and deductive reasoning. |
| Images as mental pictures. |
| Instinct. |
Design-work uses various techniques to change the contents and energy tones
of our designs. We will have a preference for a particular technique, depending
upon our natural inclination to be intellectual, emotional, physical, or
imaginative. We use the following techniques.
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Affirmations |
| Modeling |
| Directed imagination |
We should enjoy design-work.
Even though we are dealing with serious
issues, our material success, our emotional well-being and our spiritual growth,
we will have more energy and fun if we have a light hearted perspective. This
light heartedness is an energy tone. We can take care of business better if we
are relishing the game of life by being experimental, creative, adventurous and
playful. Whatever we discover is a part of life, and it will be useful to us
later. When we have an active life we encounter many design situations. When our
activity is directed by intuition, we are led to the situations that are most
important for our development.
We can combine the aspects of design-work.
While we are working with modeling we simultaneously use
affirmations, and directed imagination, to
create an entire system within which we are the person whom we want to be. The
individual techniques are more effective when we use them simultaneously.
We use various truths for the basis of our design-work:
| Subjective truth.
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| Relative truth.
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| Enveloping truth.
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| Biological truth.
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| Trait based truth.
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| Past truth. Throughout our life, we are constantly creating new designs.
The old designs are still there but inactive. If we believe that one of our
previous designs was more effective than our current design, we can revive it by
generating the thoughts, images, energy tones, and actions of that previous
collection. This is the phenomenon that occurs unintentionally when we regress
into previous behaviors.
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| Faith based truth.
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| Universal truth.
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We use many repetitions.
As explained previously, our goal is to increase the new intuition based
elements within a design. We implant enough new elements such that they become
the primary reference when we unconsciously respond to a design. The approach is
to use a technique many times. We say many repetitions of an affirmation. We do
not have to do these repetitions with force and willpower because matter has no
will by which it could resist our instructions, and so we need only to direct
our attention toward this framework into which the material conditions can
appear. Sometimes a single repetition is so precise that it immediately and
powerfully creates the element for a new design. Even then, we can enhance this
effect by performing more repetitions. There is an incubation phase similar to
the incubation phase in creativity and problem solving so that energy can
respond to the new design, and attract the conditions that are required for the
design elements to manifest themselves.
We schedule our design-work during the occasions when it would be most
effective.
Consider these factors in your scheduling:
| We find that the techniques work best when we first awaken from sleep, or
when we are relaxed, or when we are energetic physically, mentally, or
emotionally, or when we are in a right hemisphere state such as when we are
playing or doing other leisure activities. |
| We perform the techniques when we are in a variety of moods. We want the
thoughts and images and habits to be available for us regardless of our mood.
We implant the elements when we are experiencing states such as when we are
happy or depressed or relaxed. Psychologists have discovered in studies
regarding depression and in studies regarding memory that our memory works
best when we return to the state in which we first learned a fact. If we
learned a fact when we were depressed, we will remember it most easily when we
are again depressed rather than when we are happy. In the treatment of
depression, this means that the condition is self perpetuating. When we are
depressed, we tend to have the same thoughts, imagery, energy tones, and
actions that we experienced previously when we were depressed. Therefore, we
want to implant productive elements while we are in every mood, so that their
design will dominate regardless of our current mood. |
| Most types of design-work do not require a special environment, or a great
deal of concentration. We can do them while engaged in other activities. We
perform design-work by constantly implanting elements into our designs,
consciously or unconsciously. Design-work is simply the implanting of
elements. All designs are present therefore, we can work with any number of
designs at any time. |
Design-work is self directed.
Our design-work will influence the people around us. When we use affirmations
that improve our self esteem, other people will be less likely to disrespect us.
Our goal in design-work is to improve our own designs, not to control other
people.
| We strive to become more aware.
We can be more aware of:
| The elements that we are generating when we are in a design
situation. What we are thinking, imaging, feeling, and doing. |
| The elements in other people's designs. People continually reveal their
elements in their words, verbal imagery, energy tones, and actions. This
allows us to become more aware of the elements in our environment. Design
fields are not unique to people, they are associated with everything in
existence because everything arises from energy and its designs. We can
discern design elements, of thoughts, energy tones, images, and actions in any
entity, a city, a neighborhood, a building, an animal, a corporation, a
project, or an object. When a corporate culture is one of friendliness, the
corresponding elements within the design of that corporation influence the
thoughts, imagery, energy tones, and actions of the people who work there. |
| The elements that are received by other people. Whenever we express our
elements, they are available to other people, for inclusion in their own
designs. We may notice that people copy our thoughts, imagery, energy tones,
and actions. This is what we call leadership or influence or role modeling.
This power can be used in various ways:
 | The power used benevolently.
We can help people to improve their lives
when we offer the elements that could improve their designs.
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| The power used malevolently.
We can manipulate weak people, by imposing
on their freedom and integrity, to convince them that we are right instead
of merely presenting ideas that they may accept or reject.
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Techniques for enhancing design work.
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Reading.
Instead of saying affirmations from memory, we can read them from a piece of
paper, or a computer monitor. Reading can also be used for the other design-work
techniques. We can generate an energy tone of relaxation by reading the word,
relaxed, or by reading a relaxing poem.
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Tape recording. A home made cassette of affirmation statements can be
played in a car or at home. We may want to listen to the recording while we fall
asleep. |
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Pictures. |
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Writing. We can repeatedly write the affirmation statements with a pen, a
typewriter, or a computer. |
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Mirrors. While saying the affirmation statements, we can look into our
eyes. Our energy tone can be expressed through facial expressions. |
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Notes. Some people write affirmations onto pieces of paper, and then they
put these notes on a refrigerator, on a car's dashboard, in a lunch bag, or
wallet. |
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Screen savers. Screen savers can display words or images that can be
used in design work.
| We can use Screen savers which express a trait that we want to develop. A
nature screen saver can assist us in generating an energy tone of
peacefulness. |
| We can create a marquis. We type the affirmations statement that we want
for the marquis, then, when the screen saver is activated, the words scroll
across the screen. |
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Commercial products. Sometimes we can find suitable affirmation
statements on products such as posters, coffee mugs, greeting cards, or
calendars. These items can remind us of the elements that we want to implant
in our designs. |
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Conversations. We can add affirmation statements in a non-obtrusive way
during conversations. We can make an off-hand remark, "I feel good
today". Everything that we say, image, emote, or do is implanted into our
designs. Every statement is an affirmation, even if we do not intend for it to
be one.
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Partnerships. With a trusted friend, we can practice saying our
affirmation statements. Our friend supports us by confirming that our
statement is true. We can say, "I am a loving person". Our friend
can respond, "You are a loving person." When we accept and savor those words from a friend, they are implanted in our design. We can also
implant the person's energy tones and images including the images of the
person's smile and the gestures such as a caress or a hug. This partnership
technique can be very effective.
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We find many opportunities to improve a vast number of designs as we
discover that happiness, love, and other desired states come from the quality of
our designs. Even though some manifestations do seem to happen through nothing
but affirmation statements or directed imagination, other manifestations require
us to take appropriate physical actions that will help to create the external
conditions by which the manifestation can occur. If we want to acquire a
particular job, we are more likely to get that job if we send resumes and do
other job hunting activities rather than expecting the job to find us simply
because we have been visualizing it or affirming it.
Next topic: Energy Toning |
